The Best Caribbean Island Cruises

The best of the islands of the Caribbean

The hard work and effort every year is generally rewarded in the form of a really good holiday and for some time now the choice has been to take a Barbados holiday. The weather is always brilliant, the beaches excellent and the people are really friendly. The hotel owners have become friends, and for everyone this is the best Barbados holiday found. But each year you stand in the port in Bridgetown and look out at the huge cruise ships coming and going. You wonder what it would be like to spend a week taking one of the Caribbean cruises rather than staying in the same place every year.

There’s no questioning the beauty of the island and one of the most colourful in the West Indies. It has all the good hotels and facilities holiday makers expect from a top location. In the capital of Bridgetown there is vibrant entertainment and every year there is the carnival Crop Over festival. The family loves a day out watching cricket and there are few better places to do it than at the home of the great Sir Garfield Sobers. It’s a lovely place to holiday, but it would be good to spread our wings a bit every now and again.

So this year a bit more research has been done online and at the local travel agents. It turns out you can join a cruise as and when you want and take it for the short trip around the islands or leave on one of the cruises from the UK and really go for the whole gambit on a world cruise. That wouldn’t be possible of course, not with the daily work routine, but the idea of joining one of the specialist companies such as the Royal Caribbean cruises definitely appeals. The company is based in Miami Florida, and they have trips to Panama and Puerto Rico so this would be a way of seeing the rest of the region – something not done before. The annual routine was that once everyone was settled in the hotel then it was beach, a spot of scuba diving and more beaches. Great as that is for relaxation after a year of toil in the city, the cruise would offer the opportunity to see more, and enjoy all the on-board luxury that goes with big ship cruising.

The great ships operated by Cunard cruises also call in to the islands of the West Indies, and really there’s a huge choice of ship, company and facilities as most regard the Caribbean as the epitome of the type of Region Sea faring passengers’ love. The internet proves to be the most useful tool for finding the best cruise deals and in the various web pages there are cruise reviews which give an unbiased account of the different shipping lines. The companies most highly regard judging from the comments of passengers were the exclusive smaller vessels of MSC cruises, whilst the younger generation seemed to favour the more easy going lifestyle found on the colourful liners of Silverseas Cruises. Another old traditional company to come out well were P&O cruises and of course they have been sailing the seas for many years, if not decades – maybe even centuries! Search the internet for cruises reviews and find out for yourself which line is suited for your taste and style.

Closer to home with Mediterranean cruises

This was another idea which came to mind. Instead of enduring the long flight to Bridgetown and settling in to what is considered the best Barbados holiday, why not stay closer to home and enjoy the med cruises ? The Greek islands are just fantastic with real history and good ports to explore. Some might say that there’s no time to spend enjoying the beach life as in Barbados but the ships have more to offer and a number of swimming pools on board. The standards are extremely high on ships and this was another observation made when a passenger was describing one of the freed Olsen cruises. Although they are a Norwegian outfit based in the UK, they have cruises to Alaska which would appeal to anyone interested in polar wildlife and the environment.

Looking through all the information on the internet is fine but when it comes to going through the various options it’s best to look at the brochures which in this case were cruises 2011 and Cruises 2012. Booking well in advance seemed to be the way to ensure the good cabins were available and as with the Barbados holiday, there is more in the way of cheap cruises to be found with an early booking. Even for the so-called last min cruises, great deals are available.

P and O cruises had some excellent promotions with celebrity cruises highlighted as something new and different. It could be a celebrity chef, a writer or an actor on board for the trip and that’s something never found, even on the best Barbados holiday. So given all these factors and thankfully some money in the bank, the idea was put to the family: How about taking one of the cruises to the Caribbean this year and seeing the islands from the deck of one of the seabourn cruises vessels? The kids had seen the ships that came and went as well and they liked the look of the princess cruises, which everyone agreed showed great style, even when the super liners were viewed from the Barbados holiday beach. The itineraries from this shipping line were very comprehensive with ports of call at St Martens, St Kitts, British Virgin Islands and a host of other places. The voyage was just 10 days and if combined with the usual Barbados holiday would bring an extra dimension to the annual break.

There’s always a lot of input when it comes to deciding on the family holiday and quite rightly everyone has something they value more than others. Swimming and scuba diving are always high on the list, but so is good entertainment. A visit to the website showed that some of the cruise holidays can be tailored to spend a few days in a location before boarding the ship. That means some time spent underwater in Turtle Bay or Grand Turk followed by the extra luxury on board the Ruby Princess and that sounded like the perfect match. The Ruby Princess, the latest liner in the fleet, and one thought came to mind when looking through the web information was that the holiday could be made as a last minute cruise. The staterooms – and there are 900 of them - look fantastic, with private balconies, and the facilities you’d expect in a five star hotel. The more the ship deck plans were pored over, the more everyone got excited by the idea of cruising the Caribbean.

This vessel has a reef style swimming pool with current flows, massage rooms, sports and fitness gyms – in fact everything needed for a great holiday afloat. One of the concerns was feeling sea sick but that would seem unlikely on a big ship of this size. But if something serious does happen then there is the very best in medical care on board with nurses and doctors. In fact the ships have crews of over 1,000 and that goes from the cabin steward (he was called the cabin boy in the old days, but gender is no longer an issue with female attendants now employed!), as well as the regular ships accompaniment of officers and engineering staff. The ships Captain and sometimes the First Officer ‘do the rounds’ of tables and join passengers for dinner at least once and it’s fairly certain the ships photographer will be around to record the moment. One of the other aspects which everyone likes was the fact that a lot was included in the cost, so soft drinks and other non alcoholic refreshments could be enjoyed by the pool, free of charge. That included the pub lunches such as bangers and mash served in the look-a- like British pub bar. That seemed very good value and something certainly to be considered when toting up the full cost. It seemed there were costs for some things, but a lot was inclusive. Shore excursions break up the time at sea and in somewhere like the Caribbean the distances between ports is quite short. The ship is really something to look at and with a gross tonnage of 84,000 tons, and some 12 decks, it has all the style and sophistication of its rivals in the Cunard fleet.

So instead of gawping at the ships from the shore, everyone has decided it’s high time to head for the high seas and enjoy some time afloat. The opportunity to see the other islands, sample the very best holiday in Barbados, plus the ship experience proves too much to resist. Thankfully it’s been a good year with lots of bonus payments, so the cost isn’t really going to be a factor. Providing a good holiday is a factor which is important and it’s well worth all the hard work during the year to get the best holiday for everyone. Seeing the kids faces as they board the super luxury liner will be sufficient reward in itself.